Car coupler



A. J. BAZELEY Sept. 5, 1933.

CAR COUPLER Filed June 20, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 P 5, 1933- A. J. BAZELEY CAR COUPLER Filed June 20, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 1933- A. J. BAZELEY CAR COUPLER Filed June 20, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet INVENTORJ 4/a' ATTOR Y.

plan, partly in section, similar, to Fig. 2 but showing the position of the lock and loclns'eti-ing Patented Sept. 5, 1933 rs PATENT OFFICE,

CAR COUPLER Arthur .1. Bazeley, Gleveland, Ohio, assignor to National Malleable and Steel Castings Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio 7 Application June 20, 1928. Serial it... 286,863

8 Claims. (01. 213-1005 is arranged to be projected into the path of the look so as to hold it in a retracted or locl:set position and which is tripped or removed'from the lock-set position by means of t e opposing coupler. My invention also comprises various features which I shall hereinafter describe and claim.

.In the accompanying elevation of a pair of coupler heads embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan, partly in section, showing a pair of opposing coupler heads ems bodying my invention, with the loci; of one of the couplers in lock-set position; Fig. E is a member as the cars draw apart; Figs is a plan, partly in section, of one of the coupler heads showing the lock in locked position, which is and the position normally occupied after uncoupling has been effected;' Fig. 5 is a partial section on line E -V of 2; Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig. 5 but with the lock in locked position and the lock-set member I held out of operation; and Fig. 'l is .a sideelerationcf the lock setting member with its mounting in the buffing jaw of the coupler indicated in dotted lines. v g

Referringmore particularly to the drawings, in whichl have shown a coupler head of the type described in Willison Patent No. 1,61%,512, dated'January 13, 1927, the coupler heads A and B are provided with the usual pulling and bufiing jaws 2 and 3 and with the locks 4, which are mounted and reciprocate incavities 5 in the coupler heads and are operated bythe usual actuating mechanism 6. Mounted in a recess l with an opening 8 on the inner face of the buffing jawB is a loclr-set member 9 which has fulcrum shoulders or trunnions 16 which engage cooperating shoulders 11 in the recess 7. The shoulders 11 may be inclined as shown 7 so as to center vent undue'ainount of friction between its sides and the walls of the recess '2 and thus; allow the lock-set member 9 to fall freely into its lock-settingposition shown in 2 and 5. This action is accomplished by having the center setting member. I

drawings Fig. 1 is a side assembly of the coupler.

*position, as is shown in Fig. 2. As'the cars are the loclbset member 9 and prc-- drawn apart, one or both of the coupler heads:

of gravity of the member 9 tothe right of trnnnions is 'as' viewed in Fig. 6, so that it is overbalanced and normally tends to rotate toward the center line of the coupler head upon its trunnicns 10. Below the trunnions 10 the member 9 has a depending portion or trigger 13 which projects outwardly through the bottom of the recess 7 in the buffin jaw 3, the outer face of which is cut back at 14 so as to give access to and permit the position of the trigger 13 to beobserved readily by atrainrnan.

' The forward vertically disposed face of the locke on the side toward the buffing jaw 3 preferably'hasa recess 15 having a surface lfi'normalto the line of draft and a surface 17 inclined longitudinally thereto which cooperate withthe surfaces '18and 19, respectively, on the rear face and inner side face of the head 12. of the lock- After the lock-set member 9 has'been inserted into the lock-set recess '7 and the lock 4 put into position in the coupler cavity 5, the lock-set member 9 cannot beremoved' from the buiiing jaw 3, for-the reason that the lock cannot be retracted far enough so as not to obstruct the opening 8, into which the member 9 is and removed. Hence, the lock-set member, which is designed'to be readily inserted into its inserted recess '7 before thelock is placed in position,

cannotpossibly be removed or lost'witho'ut dis- I prefer to arrange the look so that in its locked or lowermost position its forward face is slightly to the rear of the forward face 20 of the buffing jaw 3, so that when incoupled posiface of the lock and the buffing face 21 of the opposing coupler.

The operation of the lock-setting 'mechanism is as follows; With the couplers coupled and in line of draft, and with its inclined face 17' against a similarly inclined face 19 on the pro- .jectingside of the head 12 of the'lock sett-ing member, and the lock is thus held in lock-set moves laterally, thus bringing the lockbf the opposing coupler B, which is still in locked position, into contact with the projecting face 19 :tion there will be clearance between the front of the lock-set head 12. This causes the lock- 1 setting member to rotate upon its trunnions 10 and forces the head 12 into the recess '7 and the dis-engagement of its faces 18 and 19 from the corresponding faces 16 and 17 on the look; as is shown in Fig. 3. The lock 4 will then engage the inclined surface 19 on the head 12 and as it slides down, will force the. head 12 completely into the recess 7 in the buffing jaw. As is shown in Fig. 4, the lock will then slide down until the lowermostor locked position is reached, and the lock-setting member will be held by the lock 4 in its recess in the buffing jaw 3. When two couplers with their respective locks in such lower-most position come together, the locks move back only part way and thus do not allow the lock-set members to project into the path of the lock and the locks do not go into lock-set position. v

As couplers are sometimes left by uncoupling operations with the locks in lock-set position, it is obvious that if two such couplers come together coupling will not be effected. As this condition cannot be readily determined with couplers of the type described which have heretofore been in use, this has resulted in delays in coupling and sometimes in the parting of trains. With my improved construction, however, the position of the trigger 13 may be readily observed by the trainman, because the trigger 13 of the lock-setting member, as is shown in Figs. 1 and 5, will project outwardly in such manner that the trainman from the side of the train may see that it is in lock-set position and by simply pushing inwardly upon it will retract it into its recess 7 and cause the lock to drop to its normal operating or lowermost position.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any mechanical equivalents of the features shown and described, or portions thereof, but recognize that various structural modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

What I claim is: j

1. In a car coupler, a reciprocating look, a lock-setting member having a trunnion bearing in the coupler head and an overbalanced head, whereby the said member normally tends to cocupy a position of lock-set engagement with the lock, said member being held out of such position by engagement with a portion of the lock when the latter is in locked position.

2. In a car coupler, a reciprocating look, a lock-setting member seating in a recess in the coupler and normally urged by gravity to a projected position in front of the lock, said lock normally engaging said lock-set member and holding it in non-operating position except when the lock is operated by its uncoupling mechanism.

3. A rigid jawed coupler having jaws and a reciprocating lock arranged to engage respectively the jaws and lock of a similar coupler for maintaining the couplers in intercoupler relation, and lock-setting means comprising a member mounted on the first mentioned coupler for movement by its own weight transversely of the first mentioned lock when the lock is in retracted position and engageable with said lock to hold the latter in retracted position.

4:. A rigid jawed coupler having jaws and a reciprocating lock arranged to engage respec tively the jaws and lock of a similar coupler for maintaining the couplers in intercoupled relation, lock-setting means mounted on the first mentioned coupler adapted to be projected into the path of the first mentioned lock when the latter is in retracted position and to hold said lock in retracted position, the said means lying in the path of movement of a part of an opposing coupler when said couplers are disengaging from one another and being forced out of the path of said look by said part of said opposing coupler.

5. A rigid jawed coupler having jaws and a reciprocating lock arranged to engage respeci tively the jaws and lock of a similar coupler for maintaining the couplers in intercoupled relation, and lock-setting means mounted on the first mentioned coupler for movement transversely of the first mentioned look when the lock is in retracted position and engageable with said lock to hold the latter in retracted position until said lock-setting means is moved by means on said similar coupler to lock-releasing position.

6. A rigid jawed coupler having jaws and a reciprocating lock arranged to engage respectively the jaws and lock of a similar coupler for maintaining the couplers in intercoupled relation, lock-setting means mounted in the first mentioned coupler for movement transversely of the first mentioned lock by gravity into the path of the lock when the lock is in retracted position, and engageable with said lock to hold it in retracted position, the said lock-setting means being self-contained in the coupler and requiring actuation by means separate from said first mentioned lock before the latter can be released.

7. A rigid jawed coupler having jaws and a reciprocating lockarranged to engage respectively the jaws and lock of a similar coupler for maintaining the couplers in interengaged relation, a lock-setting member so mounted in a recess in a jaw of the first mentioned coupler that aplane extending transversely through the interengaging portions of the couplers passes through said member, said member being adapted to be projected into the path of the first mentioned lock. when the latter is. in retracted position'and to hold said lock in retracted position, said member having trunnion bearing upon which it is rotated into and out of locksetting position.

8. A rigid jawed coupler having jaws and a reciprocating lock arranged to engage respectively the jaws and lock of a similar coupler for maintaining the couplers in intercoupled relation, a lock-setting member mounted in a recess in a jaw of the first mentioned coupler for movement into the path of movement of the lock of an opposing coupler when said first named lock is in retracted position, and engageable with said first named lock to hold the latter in retracted position.

ARTHUR J. BAZELEY. 

